Tube-cap



ANTON LANDGREBE, OF NFN/v YOVRK, N. Y.

TUBE-CAP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1920.

Application led .Tune 14, 1917, Serial No. 174,688. Renewed January 28, 1920. Serial No. 354,754.

To all whom t may concern n Be it known that I, NToN LANDGREEE,

a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of New York, Van Nest, borough ot' the Bronx, county of Bronx, and State of New York, have invented a new and improved Tube-Cap, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

' This invention relates to apparatus for dispensing beverages and has particular reference to that type of apparatus covered by Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,137,495, issued to me on the 27th day 'of April, 1915.

Among the objects of the present improvement is to provide means whereby the conveying tubes for the liquids may be kept in a most sanitary condition, but providing for the most expeditious cleansing of the same when necessary.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still :tor the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section, showing my improvement in one of its several adaptations, in connection with a series or gang ot beer tubes; and

Fig. 2 is a somewhat similar view indicating a modified Jform of the invention.

Referring 'now more specifically to the drawings I show at 1() a series or gang ot parallel pipes or tubes which` may be regarded as cooling coils in beer apparatus, each tube being connected to another adjacent thereto through a vbend or head 11. Said head being of any suitable form or design in cross section or plan preferably elliptical or else circular and is provided with an opening 12 the periphery or boundary of which lies in a plane common to all of the head openings of the series or gang.

The opening of each head is adapted to be closed by a plug or plate 13 shown in Fig. 1 as of sufficient size to completely span the opening, and between the plate parts in the several views, andy in whichand the periphery of the opening or margin ot the head is placed a gasket or washer 1-1- of any suitable compressible material.

Adjacent to and spaced. somewhat from the several plates 13 is a bar or abutment 15 havingA as many holes 16 formed therethrough as there are caps' or heads 11, one hole being arranged preferably in the axial center of cach head. In the Jform shown in Fig. 1 the holes 16 are tapped and a compression screwv 17 is fitted in each of said holes. The inner or lower end of each screw is itted in a follower' 18 which bears squarely against the central portion of a plate 13. The outer or upper end of each screw is provided with any snitablehand device such as a wheel or bar 19 for running the screw up or down readily.

The bar or abutment 15 may be fixed in position or it may be so constructed as to be removable with respect to the tubes or heads so that after the screws are allloosened relieving the pressure upon the bar, the bar and the screws fitted therein may be removed bodily from the region of the heads so that the plates and their gaskets may be removed leaving the openings 12 of: the heads all free and unobstructed for the purpose of thoroughly cleansing the tubes. As

indicated the ends of the bar 15 may lie beneath angle clips 15', or their equivalent, fixed to the side walls of the tank. In practice the lower ends of the tubes abut against the bottom of the tank and so when the screws 17 are tightened the bar 15 is forced upward against the brackets 15 serving thereby to lock all the parts in fixed position.

In that form of the invention shown in Fig. 2 the tubes 2O have heads 21, the opening 22 of which is of truste-conical form, the flare being downward or inward. Copcrating with each of these openings 22 is a truste-conical plug 23 the periphery ot which is parallel to but materially smaller than the wall of the opening 22. The larger end, however, of the plug 23 is adapted'to pass readily through the smaller end of the opening 22 when the gasket 24 is not in place. The gasket 24 is of annular form and is adapted to be inserted into the opening and litted against the tapered wall thereof when the plug is dropped well into the head. Any suitable means may then be connected to the head to lift it into the position shown in Fig. 2 where it will bind against the inner surtaces of the gasket making a well sealed joint, The means I show for setting the plug into sealing pesition comprises a hook 25 having a threaded shank 26 extending through a hole 27 in an overhead or parallel abutment 28. A winged nut 29 cooperates with the screw shank 26 and bearsagainst the outer surface of the bar wherebythe hook may be drawn toward the bar and because of its engagement with a staple or loop 30 connected to the plug, the plug will be drawn upwardly with sulicient force to make a tight joint either in connection with or independently of any internal pressure within the tubes tending to tighten the oint. ln order to remove these plugs 23 the nuts 29 are loosened allowing the plugs either to drop or to be forced inwardly to release the gaskets 24 which may be easily withdrawn by the operators lingers leaving the openings clear or the plugs to be removed thereby leaving the tubes free and unobstructed for inspection and cleansing.

rEhe caps as well as the tubes may be made of any suitable sanitary material such as glass, porcelain or the like.

I claim:

rlhe combination of a series of tubes, each tube being associated with another adjacent thereto forming a head for communication between the tubes, each head having an open side, a series of closure members for the several head openings, a gasket arranged between each closure member and the head, an abutment bar extending along and spaced from all of said heads, and screw power means acting through said bar and coperating with said closure members to actuato the same.

ANTON LANDGREBE. 

